Adrian Fedkiw
It appears that the injuries to Philadelphia Eagles running backs Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles may not be as serious as initially expected.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson announced during his press conference that Mathews is day-to-day with a knee injury and Sproles will be held out of practice with a rib fracture, but is expected to play next Monday night against the Green Bay Packers.
Mathews was wearing a brace and limping when he walked out of the locker room following Sunday’s 26-15 loss, according to Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane. It’s a bit hard to believe he’s day-to-day following that report, but we’ll see.
#Eagles RB Ryan Mathews walked out of the locker room with a brace on his right knee. Limping. Didn't say much.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) November 21, 2016
Mathews has run the ball well the last two weeks since losing his carries to Sproles. He’s carried it 26 times for 140 yards in those two games, good for a 5.4 yards per carry clip. He’s looked a lot more decisive with his cuts and bounces to the outside than he did earlier in the season.
Mathews 19 carries for 109 yards and two TDs. Eagles dominated time of possession 38:10-21:50, kept Atlanta's potent offense off field pic.twitter.com/HetM2CDdOy
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Pederson explained that he should be able to suit up Monday because the fracture is in a “safe” area. Having Sproles is vital, obviously, especially in the passing game and on special teams. He ran a lot of option routes last week and converted several key third downs.
Eagles have been loving that option route to Sproles today @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/jI6uxlO433
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
In other news, cornerback Leodis McKelvin is in concussion protocol, defensive end Connor Barwin has a bone bruise and rookie right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai is week-to-week with an MCL sprain. Allen Barbre will make the move from left guard to right tackle in his absence and Stefen Wisniewski will replace Barbre at guard.
Injuries to Mathews and Sproles not as bad as I initially expected. Mathews is day-to-day and Pederson expects Sproles to play Monday. pic.twitter.com/TlIBTpAuGi
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) November 21, 2016